Twins take a pair from Road Warriors

June 15, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/Frontiersman

WASILLA - Both the Alaska Road Warriors and Kenai Twins had plenty of opportunities to score runs Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Wasilla side, it was the peninsula team that was able to cash in.

Kenai came through with plenty of clutch hitting en route to a decisive two-game sweep of the Road Warriors at McManus Field by 12-5 and 7-1 scores.

&#8220We hit the ball at times,” Wasilla left fielder Corey Cowgill said following the series. &#8220We just didn't hit at the right times.”

That about summed up the day for the Road Warriors, who left 14 runners on base during the opening contest. The Twins, meanwhile, always seemed to be able to come through with runners in scoring position.

&#8220Kenai did a good job,” Alaska coach Steve Mossburgh said.

In the opener, Kenai jumped on the Road Warriors early, picking up four runs in the first four innings on starter Matt Packa, who left after retiring just one batter in the fourth. The Twins then broke things open in the top of the fifth, getting three more runs off reliever Chris Breck.

Alaska finally showed signs of life in the bottom half of the inning as catcher Rob Fitch, third baseman Mike Dotson, second baseman Carl Brent and Cowgill strung together four straight hits to open the inning. Cowgill's was the most impressive, an RBI triple that reached the wall in left center field to score Brent.

Wasilla added two more runs in the seventh, getting RBI singles from shortstop Casey Smith and right fielder Kody Ziter. But it was too little, too late, as the Road Warriors could never cut into Kenai's big lead.

The Road Warriors outhit the Twins 11-6 on the game, but also committed seven errors while also walking nine batters.

&#8220We just didn't play good ball,” Mossburgh said.

Tanner Pollack did most of the damage for Kenai in the opener, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI.

In the second game, Mossburgh started a number of bench players in hopes of giving his team a lift, but the results were still the same.

Alaska committed six more errors in the contest. That, combined with six walks and three hit batters, was more than enough to hand the Twins an easy victory.

Kenai pitcher Ben Stalker also had something to do with he Twins' victory, pitching four hitless innings in relief of starter Larsen Kohler.

Mike DuPuis scored the lone Road Warriors run on a Josh Boring fielder's choice.

The two losses ran the Road Warriors' losing streak to three games. Alaska also dropped a 1-0 decision to Dimond on Monday, a game in which Wasilla pitchers Wes Smith and Matt Packa combined to give up just three hits. But Alaska could only manage four hits of its own, three of them by Dotson.

Following the Kenai losses, Mossburgh said he is confident his squad will turn things around as the season progresses. The Road Warriors opened the season with back-to-back wins against Service and East, and the Alaska coach said there's no reason to panic following the sweep.

&#8220This is a very, very good team,” he said. &#8220I really like this team.”

Mossburgh said it may take some time for the squad to come together. He pointed out that there are a number of young players on the team, which is made up of players from four different Mat-Su high schools.

&#8220This is like an all-star team,” he said. &#8220Now we've got to start playing with each other.”

Though the players hail from different towns, Cowgill said he doesn't think that's en excuse. In fact, he said he believes the nature of the team's makeup gives Alaska an advantage.

&#8220That's the nice part about this, you've got the best players from all the teams,” he said.

Cowgill said he also believes Alaska has the talent to contend with any team in the state.

&#8220Once we start clicking and knowing each other better and playing with each other, we'll be something to be reckoned with.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com

TWINS 12, ROAD WARRIORS 5 (Gm. 1)

KENAI

name ab r h bi

Pollack lf 5 2 3 3

Lamphier 2b 4 1 1 1

Stalker cf 5 0 1 0

Waters c 2 2 0 1

Hepner 1b 4 1 0 0

Gilbert ss 1 2 0 0

Elson dh 4 1 0 0

Mabeus p 1 1 1 1

Netschert 3b 4 1 0 0

Bowler rf 1 1 0 1

Totals 31 12 6 7

ALASKA

Name ab r h bi

CaSmith ss 3 0 2 1

Breck 2b 2 0 0 0

Fitch c 4 1 1 0

Dotson 3b 3 0 1 0

Brent dh 1 1 1 1

Cowgill lf 4 1 1 1

Briceland cf 4 0 2 0

Washington rf 1 0 0 0

WeSmith rf 4 1 1 0

Ziter ph 1 0 1 1

Boring ph 1 0 0 0

Bydlon ph 1 1 0 0

Totals 33 5 11 4

KENAI 201 130 14 - 12

ALASKA 000 020 21 - 5

E - Kenai 3, Alaska 7. LOB - Kenai 10, Alaska 14. 2B - Pollack, Ca. Smith. 3B - Pollack, Cowgill. SB - Waters (2), Gilbert, Bydlon. CS - Hepner.

KENAI IP H R ER BB SO

Mabeus 7 10 4 4 3 2

Kohler 1 1 1 0 0 3

ALASKA

Packa 3.1 2 4 1 5 2

Breck 3.2 2 4 1 2 0

Briceland 1 2 4 1 2 0

HBP - Pollack by Packa, Bowler by Breck, Gilbert by Breck, Brent by Mabeus. WP - Packa. PB - Waters.

TWINS 7, ROAD WARRIORS 1 (Gm. 2)

KENAI

name ab r h bi

Pollack cf 5 1 1 0

Mabeus 1b 3 1 1 1

Lamphier 2b 2 2 1 1

Waters dh 2 1 1 0

Hepner rf 3 2 2 1

Gray ss 4 0 1 0

Elson c 3 0 2 2

Netschert 3b 2 0 0 0

Lee lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 27 7 9 5

ALASKA

Name ab r h bi

Bydlon 2b 3 0 1 0

Boring ss 1 0 0 1

WSmith cf 2 0 0 0

Ziter c 2 0 1 0

Packa 1b 2 0 0 0

Washington lf 2 0 0 0

Shaw p 2 0 0 0

Comerate 3b 2 0 0 0

DuPuis rf 2 1 1 0

Fitch ph 1 0 0 0

Dotson ph 1 0 0 0

CaSmith ph 1 0 0 0

Brent ph 1 0 0 0

Cowgill ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 23 1 3 1

KENAI 011 041 0 - 7

ALASKA 001 000 0 - 1

E - Kenai 1, Alaska 6. LOB - Kenai 9, Alaska 3. 2B - Lamphier. SB - Hepner (2), Pollack (2), Waters, Lamphier.

KENAI IP H R ER BB SO

Kohler 3 3 1 0 1 0

Stalker 4 0 0 0 1 3

ALASKA

Shaw 4.2 8 6 4 4 1

Briceland 1.1 1 1 0 0 1

Eli 1 0 0 0 2 1

HBP - Waters by Shaw, Netschert by Briceland, Lamphier by Briceland. WP - Shaw. PB - Ziter.